Scott D’amore has been terminated from TNA.

  •  katy ✨   ( @cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 
    7•5 months ago

    he was the reason why i started watching tna again. i loved how he handled the harassment gisele was getting and how much he stood by the talent. i hope it’s not anything darker; if it isn’t then tony should absolutely jump on getting him for talent relations and booking.

  •  GeekFTW   ( @GeekFTW@kbin.social ) 
    6•5 months ago

    “There had been some quiet rumblings for several weeks that change could be happening among some in the company after several Anthem execs including Cicione and Ariel Shnerer, Vice President of Business Development had been reaching out to both TNA staff and roster members to get a better understanding of how the actual promotion operated while getting feedback on the company. The fact Anthem execs had reached out to talent raised talk among some given how out of character it was, but it appears Anthem was preparing for life without D’Amore and getting the lay of the land as they shift TNA’s positioning internally in their company.”

    Talent is having a zoom meeting with Anthem as we speak to discuss this.

    •  TellumSiege   ( @TellumSiege@kbin.social ) 
      6•5 months ago

      Details on the zoom meeting via pwinsider:

      TNA held a meeting with Zoom with talents to inform them of Scott D’Amore’s departure this afternoon and to introduce everyone to new TNA President Anthony Cicone, who will be heading the day-to-day of the company going forward. Anthem Head Len Asper was on the call as well.

      A number of talents on the call relayed to PWInsider.com that during the meeting it was stated that D’Amore had “stepped down” from the company, which was not the case and not even what was stated in the company’s official statement. We are told by several that this did not sit well with some of the talents and as one wrestler said, “This wasn’t the way to start off” a relationship with the locker room, especially since so many talents had a connection with D’Amore and that the vast majority liked D’Amore.

      Cicone read what was described as a “prepared statement,” which some didn’t like but others noted that he was in a no-win situation given he was replacing D’Amore.

      There was nothing specific stated about creative going forward, but the remainder of the creative team beyond Scott D’Amore are still with the company.

      The meeting did not give talents a chance to ask any questions, which we can confirm did not endear some talents to the changes, either. The beginning of the call, when talents were informed about Scott D’Amore’s departure before Anthem execs joined them, was very angry for some talents before the execs joined while others tried to calm the waters.

      One TNA personality who was on the call commented that Anthem “had a lot of work to do” moving forward.

      There are some taking a “wait and see” stance as they look to see how it shakes out and whether there are additional changes. There are others trying to keep the faith in the fact that the remainder of the team was still in place and that they had to bear down and get back to work when the No Surrender PPV comes in New Orleans.

      It should be noted that one story making the way around talents is that Anthem wanted the TNA brand to be more in-line with the parent company going forward and that the brand had been too D’Amore-centric with Scott as the face of the company. That was not addressed on the call, however. While D’Amore was regularly on TNA programming as the head of the company, he was also the company’s biggest cheerleader, no different than Paul Heyman in ECW or even Tony Khan in AEW, someone who was living 24/7 for TNA and in many ways, his life was entangled with TNA brand, at least, until today.

  •  GeekFTW   ( @GeekFTW@kbin.social ) 
    6•5 months ago

    *finds out literally 15 seconds ago* WHAT THE FUCK begins doing due diligence and reading the news

    This shit is what happens when I dip for like 2h to play fucking RimWorld jesus.

  •  TellumSiege   ( @TellumSiege@kbin.social ) 
    5•5 months ago

    Anthem’s press release:

    Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc., a global multi-platform media company, announced today the appointment of Anthony Cicione as the President of TNA Wrestling.

    The move aims to further integrate TNA Wrestling into Anthem’s Entertainment Group, of which Cicione is the President, leveraging the entire Company’s resources to add more value in areas including production, distribution, marketing, viewership, customer acquisition, digital revenue streams, ad sales and sponsorships, digital tech operations, and more.

    Cicione replaces Scott D’Amore, whose contract with Anthem has been terminated. D’Amore has been a part of TNA since 2003. He held many key leadership positions and played a vital role in the growth of the company leading to its strong industry reputation today, including the successful return of the TNA Wrestling brand in 2024. Anthem thanks him for the commitment he brought to the business, the talent, and the people who work outside the ring.

    In addition to these duties as President of Entertainment, Cicione will now manage the day-to-day business operations for TNA Wrestling. He brings more than 30 years of executive-level management experience to the organization. Cicione has been with Anthem for the last 16 years, managing technical operations and multiple cable and digital channels. Prior to his time with Anthem, Cicione was a producer of sports content including catapulting The Score to success by bringing WWE to the channel.